Chad Pennington (179-260, 68.8-percent, 1,765 yards, 10 TDs, 9 INTs, 86.1 rating) began the season and threw too many killer INTs en route to the team’s 1-7 start. He was then benched in favor of Kellen Clemens (130-250, 52-percent, 1,529 yards, 5 TDs, 10 INTs, 60.9 rating), who was inconsis tent and hardly cemented himself as a sure-fire winning QB.

RUNNING BACKS – D

Thomas Jones (310-1,119 yards, 1 TD rushing, 28-217, 1 TD receiving) had a tough season. He ran for some tough yards and had a tough time breaking through his own OL for more yards. His stats are somewhat de ceiving, because he wasn’t the impact runner the Jets hoped he’d be. Leon Wash ington (71-353, 3 TDs rushing, 36-213 receiving) was sometimes an effective all- round back. The Jets averaged 3.8 yards per carry and had 6 rushing TDs.

RECEIVERS – C-

Jerricho Cotchery (82-1,130 yards, 2 TDs) had another terrific season, particularly in manufacturing yards after the catch. He needs to find the end zone more often, though. Laveranues Coles (55-646 yards, 6 TDs) had an injury-riddled season that stunted his numbers.

TIGHT ENDS – C

Chris Baker (41-409 yards, 3 TDs) had his best year receiving and contin ued to show he has the best hands on the team. He wasn’t thrown to often enough. There was too much of a drop-off after Baker in production with Joe Kowalewski (5-18) and Sean Ryan (3-46) not being big parts of the attack.

OFFENSIVE LINE – D

The Jets never found a consistent replacement for LG Pete Kendall, where Adrien Clarke, Will Montgomery and Rob Turner all failed. LT D’Brickashaw Ferguson too often had trouble in pass protection and con tinues to underachieve based on his lofty draft position. Overall, the Jets allowed 53 sacks and 3.8-yards-per carry average.

DEFENSIVE LINE – C-

Not nearly enough pass rush. Only seven teams had fewer than the 29 sacks the Jets produced. Disappointing season for DE Shaun Ellis, who had only 5 sacks, 12 pressures and a forced fumble. DE Kenyon Cole man had only 1 ½ sacks to go with 90 tackles. NT Dewayne Robertson got pushed around too often and simply doesn’t appear well- suited for the nose.

LINEBACKERS – C+

Rookie David Harris didn’t start until midseason and still ended up leading the team in tackles (118) and was tied for the lead in sacks (5) and forced fumbles (2). Eric Barton was second in tackles with 94. Victor Hobson (67 tackles, 2 sacks) didn’t follow up his strong 2006 season. Jonathan Vilma (39 tack les) wasn’t playing particularly well when he suffered a season-ending injury.

SECONDARY – B-

Rookie CB Darrelle Revis, who took some lumps, was overall a pleasing addition with 3 INTs, 91 tackles and a team-high 13 passes defensed. S Kerry Rhodes, with his team- high 5 INTs, 2 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 68 tackles, was the best playmaker in the secondary for the second consecutive year. The Jets ended up ranked No. 9 in pass defense.

SPECIAL TEAMS – B+

Though Washington slid to fourth in KO return average at 27.5 yards, he was tied for the league lead with 3 TDs and his production slip late was more a product of teams kicking the ball away from him late in the season.

KICKING GAME – C+

After a rocky start, K Mike Nugent settled down and finished with 110 points on 29-of-36 on FGs and 23-of-24 on PATs. P Ben Graham was ranked 16th in the league with a 43.3-yard gross average and 21st in net.

COACHING – D+

All the buttons Eric Mangini pushed to help the Jets get to 10-6 in 2006 were booby-trap buttons this year. He didn’t have a great year, firstly allow ing the Kendall situation to doom the continuity on his OL and stepping back a bit with his aggressiveness. The shine from offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer’s 2006 season of creativity wore off, too. It’s difficult to tell whether defensive Bob Sutton was a part of the second- half defensive resurgence, be cause it’s believed Mangini put a stronger hand to the defense.